How to Perform Searchable-Image OCR Without ClearScan in Adobe Acrobat
Question details
The user wants to perform OCR on a scanned PDF to make the text searchable without altering the document's original visual appearance.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Applying Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to scanned PDF documents to extract searchable data.
- Observed behavior
- The user needs the final output to retain the exact look of the original scanned document while adding an invisible, searchable text layer, avoiding the font-altering ClearScan or Editable Text modes.
Ensure you have the scanned PDF document saved locally on your computer and that Adobe Acrobat is installed with the Enhance Scans tool enabled.
Change Output Style to Searchable Image in Acrobat
Adjust the Recognize Text settings in Acrobat to output a Searchable Image instead of Editable Text & Images (formerly ClearScan).
By default, Adobe Acrobat might try to convert scanned text into editable text using custom fonts, which alters the original appearance of the document. Changing the output style to 'Searchable Image' ensures the original scan remains visually intact while an invisible layer of searchable text is placed over it.
Open your scanned PDF in Adobe Acrobat. Go to the 'Tools' menu at the top and select 'Enhance Scans'.
In the secondary toolbar that appears, click on 'Recognize Text' and then select 'In This File'.
Click on 'Settings' (the gear icon or text link) to open the Recognize Text Options dialog box.
Locate the 'Output Style' dropdown menu. Change the selection from 'Editable Text & Images' to either 'Searchable Image' or 'Searchable Image (Exact)'.
Click 'OK' to save your new settings, then click the 'Recognize Text' button to start processing your document.
Make Scanned PDFs Searchable with WPS Office
WPS Office offers a comprehensive PDF toolkit with advanced OCR features, allowing you to easily convert scanned documents and images into searchable text while preserving the original document layout.
- 1. Open the Document: Launch WPS Office and open your scanned PDF file.
- 2. Access the OCR Tool: Navigate to the 'Tools' tab on the top menu ribbon and click on the 'OCR' button.
- 3. Choose Extraction Mode: Select your desired output mode, such as extracting text or saving as a searchable PDF format.
- 4. Process the File: Click 'Confirm' or 'Start' to let WPS Office process the document and generate a searchable text layer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Acrobat changing the font of my scanned document?
This happens if your OCR output style is set to 'Editable Text & Images' (formerly known as ClearScan). This setting attempts to replace the scanned text pixels with a synthesized vector font. Changing the setting to 'Searchable Image' prevents this behavior.
What is the difference between Searchable Image and Searchable Image Exact?
Searchable Image applies compression to the scanned image to reduce the final file size, which might slightly degrade image quality. Searchable Image Exact preserves the original scan quality completely without applying any image compression.
Can I batch process multiple PDFs to be searchable images?
Yes, in Acrobat Pro, you can use the Action Wizard tool to create a custom action that applies the 'Recognize Text' feature with the 'Searchable Image' setting to a batch of files or an entire folder automatically.
Does searchable image OCR make the PDF file size larger?
Adding a searchable text layer typically increases the file size slightly. However, if you use the standard 'Searchable Image' setting, the background image compression might actually reduce the overall file size compared to the original raw scan.
